Michigan man asked to transfer $115K after fake Costco employee says he’s a suspect in an international crime ring
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DETROIT, Michigan (WWJ) — A Michigan man was accused of being involved in an international crime organization after a scammer told him his credit card had been fraudulently used at a Costco location in China, police said.
The Troy Police Department said the man reported the scam on June 21 and said that in early May, he received a call from an unknown man who said he worked in customer service at Costco.
This caller allegedly told the victim that his credit card was used at a Costco location in China and that he hadn’t paid the card off.
Police say the victim told the caller he hadn’t visited China in years.
The caller then told him he would need to submit a report of the fraud to the police in China, so he transferred the victim to who he said was the police department.
The victim then allegedly spoke with another man who said he needed to submit the police report via a Zoom call. Police said that when the victim joined the call, he talked to a man in a full police uniform who asked him questions about what had happened.
This “police officer” then told the victim that he was a suspect in a multi-million dollar international crime ring involving the kidnapping of children.
After that, the victim was connected to a case supervisor, who allegedly contacted him daily.
The victim was also allegedly asked to transfer $115,000 into a Wells Fargo bank account and was then asked to transfer more money “to hold for his bail during the investigation.”
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